TripAdvisor Bloghttp://blog.tripadvisor.com
Insightful articles, travel news, and inside tips. Plus, updates on our work culture and career opportunities. And you can expect to see some amazing traveler photos and videos.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 17:07:26 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Tips for Taking Better Travel Photos from Photographers We Lovehttp://blog.tripadvisor.com/blog/2015/03/02/tips-taking-better-travel-photos-photographers-love/
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Memories might be the best souvenirs from a trip, but photographs are a close second. We asked some of our favorite photographers for simple tips any traveler can use to take better photos. From lighting suggestions to advice on how to blend in while capturing a moment, here are easy ways to up your photography game and come home with great memories and fantastic images.

Michelle Yam: Embrace the Camera You Have

(Photo: Michelle Yam)

“‘The best camera is the one you have with you.’ I heard that quote somewhere, and it’s true. Don’t get caught up with the idea of having the latest and greatest of cameras. Ninety-nine percent of my photos posted to my Instagram are shot with my camera phone. By the time you set up your fancy camera settings and tripod, you might have…

Desperate for a winter escape to tropical sunshine and warmth, my family and I recently boarded the Norwegian Breakaway in New York for a cruise to the Bahamas. To our surprise, onboard we discovered an Ice Bar. To our even greater surprise, we decided to try it. Standing around in a giant ice chest was the last thing we needed, yet how could we resist such a one-of-a-kind experience?

We were given silver hooded capes and black wool gloves, led into an igloo-like room that’s sealed off like a meat locker, and served concoctions of vodka and ice wine in glasses made of ice. Our fellow travelers spent most of their time in the Ice Bar taking photos of themselves posing next to ice statues or sitting on the ice throne. My time inside was short—I had to flee the chill after 15 minutes—but the surprise factor…

The year 2000 doesn’t seem so long ago. It’s when the first USB flash drive came out. It’s when the International Space Station opened. It’s when the Prius was introduced in the U.S. And it’s when TripAdvisor was founded—15 years ago today, in a small office above a pizza shop in Needham, Massachusetts.

And yet that was so long ago—because so much has changed since then. Today TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site. Trying to remember travel planning before TripAdvisor is like trying to remember life before Post-It Notes, or car GPS navigation systems, or email.

Remember when we had to base our travel decisions on input from just a handful of people? When the only travel reviews were from guidebook writers, travel agents, and your aunt who went to Paris five years ago? Today we base our decisions on reviews posted by millions of our fellow travelers, including dozens…

This month marks TripAdvisor’s 15-year anniversary of helping travelers plan and book amazing trips. We began as a tiny company above a pizzeria, and with your help over the years we have grown to become the world’s largest travel site with more than 2.5 billion unique users in 2014 and featuring more than 200 million traveler reviews and opinions.

Before TripAdvisor, most people were using travel agents and guide books to plan their trips. TripAdvisor helped change that by giving consumers a platform to read and share millions of candid traveler reviews and opinions, to offer better travel information and transparency, resulting in better trips.

Since then, travel has changed dramatically—and so have we! TripAdvisor has evolved from a comprehensive travel planning site to a site that now allows travelers to plan, compare and book accommodations, restaurants and attractions. While we’re excited about the future, let’s take a moment to reflect…

Planning what to pack or use on that trip just got a little easier! TripAdvisor announced the winners of its 2015 Travelers’ Choice Awards for Travel Favorites, the brands travelers around the world have said they prefer to use on their trips. If you hit the road with your Lonely Planet guidebook, Samsonite luggage and Bose noise-canceling headphones, you’re in good company – these are just a few of the 74 U.S. winners in categories that range from cameras and luggage to soap and shave cream.

Over 180,000 travelers around the world weighed in, including over 60,000 in the U.S., and here are the final results:

We supplied tons of road-tested tips and tricks in Packing Hacks: 31 Days to the Perfect Suitcase, our series on helping you become an expert packer. But we also learned a thing or two. When we invited you, our readers, to reveal your best packing tips, we were flooded with umpteen ingenious hacks for packing well. Here are 16 of our favorite pieces of reader-submitted packing advice.

Bring A Backpack

(Photo: Thinkstock/ekipaj)

“Backpack suitcase is where it’s at for traveling light! If you like to streamline and skip the baggage claim like me, it is a great way to go. Much lighter and easier to manage. I can even hang it on a bathroom stall hook while I go and not have to worry about it being stolen!” —Janet

I needed an escape to the sun for my kids’ February school break. But the Presidents’ Week holiday means peak airfares, especially for a family of four. So, rather than flying to the sun, we sailed to it—aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway. We drove from our house to the ship and boarded a seven-night cruise from New York to the Bahamas and back. It took longer to get to 75-degree weather than if we’d flown, but what we lost in time we made up for in the fact that we were able to start the relaxation part of our vacation even before we’d sailed past the Statue of Liberty.

A giant cruise ship is not for everyone, but here’s why it can make sense for busy kids and their exhausted parents:

* You move from place to place without having to worry about logistics.

The sand, the waves, the water temperature, the shells, the views, the yachts, the swimming, the surfing, the wind, the crowds, the rocks, the seaweed, the jellyfish, the riptide, the volcanic lava…. It’s hard enough to choose the right beach, let alone plan an entire beach vacation. Yet those of us who have been buried in snow for weeks are craving one. Fortunately, TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travelers’ Choice list of the best beaches—in the U.S. and in the world—has just come out. And it’s not too late to make a sunny beach trip happen this winter. Here’s how to pull it together:

* Focus on top beaches nearby.

If you live where most of the snow is, seven of the top ten U.S. beaches are relatively accessible to you: six are in Florida, and one is in California. What makes a top beach, anyway? Given that half of the top…